CORNFLAKES CHIVDA I SAVORY SNACK MIX

I had a box of cornflakes that is  sitting in my cupboard.   Normally we had  our breakfast with cornflakes  or adding this cereal for making cookies or coating the batter.

So I need to  do something  to save the cornflakes  before  it  passes its expiry date.   What I have in mind were turning them into dessert or a snack.

For  long long  time. I have prepared a crunchy and savory snack so this is the perfect time  to make my favorite Cornflakes Chivda that is  made from roasted nuts, roasted gram, curry leaves and spices. You can vary the selection  from among peanut, cashew, walnut, pistachio, pumpkin seeds  or sunflower seeds.

Turn this chivda into a healthier  version thus cutting out the oil used. Did not fried the peanut and roasted gram in oil but dry roasted them.  The only time I used oil when frying the curry leaves along with chili powder and turmeric.

Adjust the chili used according to your heat tolerance and  add sugar if you like but love without it.

Cornflakes Chivda  to  be enjoyed any time and would last for good 1 week if kept in airtight container.

EASY ROCKY ROAD CAKE

Am always attracted to rocky road desserts for their luscious topping of crunchy nuts, chunks of biscuits  and fluffy marshmallow coated in melted chocolate. ,   The topping varies from country to country,  you could learn more about this through Google.

This week, I try to include "rocky road" elements in my cake by adding chocolate chips, almonds and crushed biscuit in the batter.

What I love about this recipe was super easy to make, no creaming of butter or beating of egg required.  You need only one bowl to incorporate all the ingredients except the almond slices.  It uses as a garnish.  Most importantly, it was lighter when compared with other rocky road cake.  Easy Rocky Road Cake uses oil instead of butter  Added peanut oil but other vegetable oil works too.

Easy Rocky Road Cake  is great fun to make with all the family and the best part is you can  personalize your cake by mix and matching the ingredients with your favorite sweets and biscuits.

Made as a surprise for our guest and  it was a total hit!  Everyone loved it so much and going to try this again with different variations soon.

CORNFLAKES CRISP BARS

It is always fun to bake each and every week. While scratching my head as what to make this week, I stumbled upon a box of cornflakes that was sitting in my cupboard.

Used my  M & M Cookie Slices  as a guide and little tweaking. I made this Cornflakes Crisp Bars for the kid to nibble,

It is super easy to bake and most of the ingredients are mostly available in your  kitchen.  For smooth cutting, you can blend the cornflakes but not too fine,  Just crushed mine with rolling pin and you'll find some still in a bigger piece.  This is what give these bars a crunch when you bite into it.

For final touch, you could dress them up however you like by adding  chocolate chips or even  mini M & M  but this is optional. Added a bit of grated chocolate since that is the only one I have.

These Cornflakes Crisp Bars are truly delicious,  a satisfying crunch  with simple ingredients make these a wonderful snack.

BRAIDED MASALA BREAD

Most of the time, I baked sweet bread with filling but this week trying a savory ones  made with  my trusted bread recipe. .  .

This Braided Masala Bread is a small buttery bread, braided and stuffed with onion, green chili  and cilantro.   The filling compliments this lovely loaf perfectly. It is braided from three strand of dough, a similar fashion how you braid your hair.

If you have a mixer or bread machine, the process is even easier because these gadget knead the bread for you.  But if you don't have them, no worries, kneading with your hands is perfect and a good workout too.

Since I opt for buttery dough and stuffing  it  with onion, it becomes more sticky and hard to handle, Adding more flour is required  in order to make it easier to shape.   Actually you can shape into any shape you like but I want my bread in different shape.  Despite it turns out not so pretty ( poor braiding)   but  the taste was *so* good.  .

Braided Masala Bread  is an awesome bread!  It takes a bit of extra time to assemble but the  bread itself is very soft and baked beautifully. .

GINGER COFFEE CAKE

Nowadays a cake is a must for any occasion, such as for birthday, wedding or parties. This Ginger Coffee Cake is good for small gathering or just to satisfy your sweet tooth.   It is a typical cake recipe whereby you beat sugar and butter until light and thick.   In this recipe I have used only half a cup of butter,  additional coffee and  yogurt to moisten the batter.  In case you don't like coffee, you can add very strong tea instead.

We love the kick of heat the ginger brings to this Ginger Coffee Cake.  If ground ginger is not available  you can substitute it  with  3/4 in of  grated fresh ginger that would work too. In future, would  double up the ground ginger since the  ginger flavor was still quite subtle.   Love a fierce gingerly flavor in my cake so am not adding any spice, anything else is a mere distraction

Drizzle over your favorite icing on top of the cake  but I like to keep it simple.  Embrace the ginger. It can only make you feel better. And what are your other favorite ginger recipes at this time of the year?